Railway draft appliance



Feb. 16, 1932. E. GEorGE, JR

RAILWAY DRAFT APPLIANGE Filed Feb. 18. 19m

lllllllll .lLTLlllll Ill! Patented Feb. 16,1932

UNITED sTArrs;

PATENT golf-FICE ENOCH GEORGE, JR., YOF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO 'THE vMCCONWA'Y & TORLEY COMPANY, 0F IPTISBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENN SYLVANIA RAILWAY DRAFT AIPLIANCE Application led February 18, 1928. Serial No. 255,288.

My invention relates to railway draft appliances and is particularly concerned with the provision of means for efficiently supporting carcouplers which reciprocate in draft and buiiing. i Y

The principal object of the invention is to provide coupler supporting means adording coupler carriers which may be alternatively employed so as to support the coupler by cooperating with its head or lits shank, thus permitting` the use either of a special coupler having a head designed to cooperate with the coupler carrier or of a standard coupler whose shank cooperates witha carrier located in the usual position.

On freight cars and locomotive tenders equipped with couplers which yield longitudinally in draft and buing the present practice generally is to position the coupler supporting carrier suiiiciently far to the rear of the coupler head to permit the coupler to move rearwardly for the full extent of its normal travel, with enough added allowance to cover the wear of the parts. As the center of gravity of the coupler is considerably in advance of this usual position of the carrier, the coupler head tends to droop, such drooping being augmented as the means for attaching the coupler to the draft gear wears as a result of service. f f

lVhile couplers are formed with contours aording horizontal clearance between mating couplers when the latter are interlocked, in order that the couplers may operate properly in the act of coupling and also to afford the necessary flexibility for vertical and horizontal angling, if the head of the'coupler is permitted to droop this clearance is in effect reduced and the requisite flexibility between adjacent couplers as well as the proper operation of the couplers in the act of coupling may be detrimentally adected tok a serious extent. It is, therefore, desirable to maintain the couplers in horizontal position and it is advantageous that this result should be attained by means enabling lthe common form of standard coupler to be employed in an emergency.

Generally stated, the principal feature of the invention consists in securing to a freight ear or locomotive tenderL a coupler mounting having an opening for receiving the shank of a car coupler and permitting it to reciprocate in draft and bulhng therethough, the mounting being provided with means eX- tending under and adapted to support the coupler, said coupler supporting means com prising a plurality of rigidly connected coupler carriers, one of which extends under and is adapted to cooperate with a suitably formed coupler head and the other of which entends under and is adapted to cooperate with the shank of the coupler at a point to the rear of the head.

Other features of the invention pertainingk to advantageous structural form will hereinafter appear and be particularly pointed out in the claims. n the drawings showing a preferred bodiment of the invention:

F ig. l is a view partly in plan and partly in horizontal section of a draft appliance embodying the invention, shown asrapplied to a striking casting, a coupler being associated with a draft yokeofthe hooded type.

Fig. 2 is a view, partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section, of the construction shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 8 is an end elevational view of the striking casting. n

Fig. 4 is a detail ,sectional view of the lower portion of the striking casting 'shown in Fig. 2, but illustrating the coupler carrier wear shoe in the position it occupies for cooperating with the shank of a standard coupler.

Fig. 5 is a detail vertical sectional view of a modifiedr form of the invention.

In the drawings, l indicates a striking casting adapted to be rigidly mounted upon the end of the railway vehicle. lt is formed with an opening 2 through which the shank 3 of the car coupler extends, the opening being of suliicient size to permit the shank of ie coupler to be inserted and withdrawn and to enable the coupler to have the rdesired range of lateral movement. The particular form of striking casting l, shown in the drawings, is especiallyvdesigned for yuse with a car coupler 4 and draft yoke 5 operatively connected by a transversely extending key 6 the striking casting. The spacing of the carin the well known manner, the striking casting being formed with rearwardly opening slots 7 for receiving and permitting longitudinal movement of the key 6. Above the opening 2 the casting 1 is fashioned with a forwardly projecting portion forming a striking face 8 servin@ to cooperate with the rear face 9 of the striking bracket on the upper side of the coupler head, means thus being provided for limiting the extent of buffing movement of the coupler. n

The opening 2 in the striking casting is closed at its lower side by a transversely extending cross tie 10 preferably formed as an integral part of the striking cast-ing. This cross tie, which extends under the shank of the coupler at a point sufliciently to the rear of the coupler head to permit full bufling movement of the coupler, provides means for cooperating with the coupler shank 3 to support the coupler. As this cross tie 10 occupies a position corresponding to that of coupler carriers now in common use it will be appreciated that it may serve as a supporting means for couplers of the present standard design. Instead of disposing the upper surface of the coupler carrier 10 at an elevation such that it would support the coupler by directly engaging the under surface of the coupler shank 3 it is preferred, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, to space said carrier below the coupler shank a distance sufficient to permit a carrier wear shoe 11 to be interposed between the rigid portion 10 of the carrier and the coupler shank. By thus spacing the cross tie l() from the coupler shank, wear of these parts on each other is wholly obviated when the coupler is supported by the means normally provided for cooperating with the coupler head for that purpose.

At its lower end the striking casting 1 projects forwardly to provide a coupler carrier 12 which extends under the head of the coupler so as to afford support for the latter during draft and buffing. The carrier 12, which is in an advanced position with respect to the carrier 10, and whose upper surface is at a lower level than that of the carrier 10, is rigidly united to the striking casting, preferably by means of laterally disposed spaced arms 13 which extend rearwardly in parallel relation to form flanges overlapping the center sills of the car to the rear of the inner coupler carrier 10, the said flanges being, as shown, provided with suitable rivet openings to enable them to be secured to the center sills and having the key slots 7 formed therein. As in the case of the rear carrier 10 the upper surface of the forward carrier 12 may advantageously be spaced downwardly from the under surface 14 of the coupler head with which the carrier 12 cooperates, the said spacing permitting the employment of the carrier wear shoe 11 which serves to protect riers 1() and 12 and the separation of the connecting arms 13 provide a slot for receiving the rear depending flange ofthe shoe 11 when the latter is assembled in advanced position.' The wear of the under surface of the coupler head, due to service, may be compensated for by suitably varying the thickness of the wear shoe 11, as will be readily appreciated. The under surface of the coupler head for cooperating with the carrier 12 may advantageously be formed as a pad or seat 14 disposed in a horizontal plane which preferably is at the same elevation the lowest point of the striking face of the coupler head. Such a location of the seat 14 on the under side of the coupler head is advantageous in that it results in a compact structure and at the same time affords sufficient clearance to enable draft and buing movements of the coupler to be performed, while yet enabling the parts to be made of sufficient size to be strong and durable.

In the modified form of the invention illustrated in Figure 5, the striking casting 15 is integrally formed at the lower end of the opening through which the coupler shank projects with a transversely extending cross tie or carrier 16 adapted to extend under and to afford support for the shank 3 of the standard coupler. As in the construction heretofore described, the upper surface of the carrier 16 is spaced downwardly from the under side of the coupler shank so that when this carrier is not performing the duty of supporting the coupler neither it nor the coupler shank is subjected to wear incident to draft and bufiing movements of the coupler. For the purpose of receiving a wear shoe 17. the upper surface of the carrier member 16 is recessed, as indicated at 18, the shoe 17 being associated with the carrier 16 when the latter is acting to support the coupler.

In advance of the carrier 16 and at a lower level, the striking casting 15 is formed with a transversely extending carrier member 19 which, like the carrier 16, is provided on its upper side with a recess 18 to receive the wear shoe 17. When the wear shoe is in its forward assembled position it cooperates with the seat 14 on the under side of the coupler head. The casting 15 may be, in other respects, the same as the striking casting l heretofore described and accordingly corresponding structural features have been identified by corresponding reference numerals.

I claim:

l. A car end casting for cooperating with a car coupler having a head and shank and which reciprocates in draft and buiing, said head having a carrier engaging surface below the lower surface of the shank, said casting being formed with an opening permitting the insertion and withdrawal of the coupler shank and being provided with spaced i i.

rearwardly extending vertical lianges adapted to overlap and be secured to the center sills of the car, said flanges being integrally united by cross ties respectively boundingthe upper and lower sides of said opening,-said lower cross-tie being spaced downwardly from said lower surface of the shank, said end casting being integrally provided at its lower end in advance of said cross ties with a coupler carrier member extending under and cooperating with said carrier engaging surface of the coupler head to support the coupler so as to maintain the shank thereof in vertically spaced relation to the cross tie at the lower side of said opening, and said carrier member being provided with spaced arms extending in advance of said cross tie members and integrally connected to said carrier member.

2. A car end casting for cooperating with a car coupler having a head and shank and which reciprocates in draft and bufling, said head having a carrier engaging surface below the lower surface of the shank, said casting being formed with an opening permitting the insertion and withdrawal of the coupler shank and being provided with spaced vertical flanges adapted to overlap and be secured to the center sills of the car, said flanges being integrally united by a cross tie bounding the lower side of said opening and extending below and spaced downwardly from said lower surface of the shank, said flanges extending forwardly from said cross tie and being integrally united in advance of said cross tie with a coupler carrier member adapted to cooperate with said carrier engaging surface of the coupler head to support the coupler so as to sp ace the shank thereof vertically above said cross tie, said carrier member being disposed in advance of said cross tie and having its upper surface below the level of the bottom of said opening.

3. A car end casting for cooperating with a car coupler having a head and shank and which reciprocates in draft and bufling, said head having a carrier engaging surface below the lower surface of the shank, said casting being formed with an opening permitting the insertion and withdrawal of the coupler shank and being provided with parallel flanges adapted to overlap and be secured to the center sills of the car, said opening being of a height permitting upward movement of said shank said flanges being integrally united by a cross tie bounding the lower side of said opening and adapted normally to be in spaced relation to the said shank when the car coupler is associated therewith, said casting being provided at its lower end with laterally spaced arms extending in advance of said cross tie and being formed with a coupier carrier member integrally united to said arms at their forward ends, the said carrier member being adapted to have interlitting engagement with a wear shoe for preventing the coupler from engaging the said cross tie member, and said shoe being adapted to engage said carrier engaging surface of the head.

4. A car end casting for cooperating with a car coupler having a head and shank and which reciprocates in draft and buliing, said head having a carrier engaging surface below the lower surface of the shank, said casting being formed with an opening permitting the insertion and withdrawal of a coupler shank and being integrally provided with means adapting it to be secured in position on the car, said opening having a height permitting vertical upward movement of said shank from its normal position in said opening, said opening being bounded at its lower side by a cross tie integrally connected at its ends to the side walls of said opening and spaced downwardly from said lower surface of the shank, and said end casting being provided at its lower end in advance of said cross tie with coupler carrier means for cooperating with said carrier engaging surface ofV the coupler head to support the coupler so as to maintain the shank thereof normally in vertically spaced relation to said cross tie.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ENooH GEORGE, JR. 

